Pope Leo XIV confirms the election of Fr Francesco as Custos of the Holy Land and Guardian of Mount Zion
Pope Leo XIV has confirmed the election — performed by the Minister Basic of the Order of Friars Minor collectively together with his Definitory — of the Most Reverend Father Francesco Ielpo, OFM, as Custos of the Holy Land and Guardian of Mount Zion.
The Minister Basic of the Franciscan Order, Friar Massimo Fusarelli, introduced the information in an official letter despatched to the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land.
Father Francesco Ielpo, OFM
Br Francesco Ielpo, an Italian nationwide, was born in Lauria (PZ) on Might 18, 1970. He professed his solemn vows in 1998 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2000. From 1994 to 2010, he served as a spiritual training instructor and, since 2000, as Rector of the Franciscanum Luzzago Institute in Brescia. Between 2006 and 2010, he was a member of the Nationwide Council of FIDAE (Federation of Academic Exercise Institutes), and from 2007 to 2010, served as Provincial Definitor of the Lombard Province.
From 2010 to 2013, he ministered as parish priest of the Franciscan Parish of Saint Anthony of Padua in Varese. In September 2013, he was appointed Commissioner of the Holy Land for Lombardy, together with his mandate prolonged in 2016 to incorporate all the Province of Northern Italy. Since 2014, he has served on the Board of Administrators of the Professional Terra Sancta Affiliation. Since 2022, he has additionally held the function of President of the Holy Land Basis, whereas concurrently serving as Delegate of the Custos of the Holy Land for Italy and as Basic Delegate for the restructuring of the Provinces in Campania, Basilicata, and Calabria.
Custody of the Holy Land welcomes new Custos
In a press launch saying the election, the Custody of the Holy Land prolonged “heartfelt needs for a fruitful service on this ‘Pearl of the Missions'” of the Franciscan Order.
The assertion additionally expressed “the profound gratitude of the Minister Basic and his Definitory to Br Francesco Patton, who concludes his devoted and beneficiant nine-year service to the mission within the Holy Land.”
Room for the Holy Spirit
In an announcement to the Vatican media, Father Ielpo emphasised how “the service that the Order and the Church have requested of me instantly made me realise the large disproportion between my humble self and the responsibility required of me, significantly at this second in historical past”.
He recalled the phrases of his religious father, who advised him, “This disproportion, this incapacity, is gorgeous! As a result of it means that there’s room for another person to behave, for the Holy Spirit to behave!'”
Father Ielpo concluded, “So, as on the day of my non secular career, I entrust myself to God, to the Church, to my Order and to my brothers!”
